Veranderingen in de betrekkingen tussen landheren en landarbeiders in Zuid-Gujarat, India

Samenvatting

The position of agricultural laborers in traditional 'village India' is analyzed in terms of the Jajmani system. Relations between this landless category, already a substantial part of the agricultural population, and landlords was institutionalized in a framework characterized by bondage and patronage. The element of patronage gradually declined and relations became more instrumental, specific, and antagonistic. Masters and servants came to regard each other, not as patrons and clients, but as employers and laborers with opposed interests. Commercialization of agriculture and the increasing ur orientation of members of dominant castes have strongly influenced the structure of exchange relations on the local level. Based on village fieldwork, the economic and social position of agricultural labor deteriorated in the last few decades. Dependence on landlords has changed more in type than in degree. Outside employment opportunities are scarce and only mean and lowly paid jobs are open to this resourceless and uneducated group. Government intervention in village affairs, although considerable, is such that it has not counterbalanced exploitation of these landless castes. AA